Printing services Web sites allowing a user to access the site from the user's home or work and design a personalized document are well known and widely used by many consumers, professionals, and businesses. Typically, these types of sites allow the user to review thumbnail images of a number of customizable designs prepared by the site operator having a variety of different styles, formats, backgrounds, color schemes, fonts and designs from which the user may choose. When the user has selected a specific product template design to customize, the sites typically provide online tools allowing the user to incorporate the user's personal information and content into the selected template to create a custom document design. When the design is completed to the user's satisfaction, the user can place an order through the site for production and delivery of a desired quantity of the corresponding printed product.
Many customers of Web-based custom business product design sites are sole proprietors and small businesses who have a need for high-quality printed materials, such as business cards, letterhead, postcards, announcements, and brochures, to distribute in connection with the promotion of their service or product offerings. Many of these small office/home office customers do not have a logo to convey an identity for their business; perhaps because they are just starting in business or they do not have the time and/or financial resources to obtain a logo through traditional channels. Many design professionals provide the service of designing individual business logos, but the cost of having a professional designer craft a custom logo can be expensive and may involve devoting time to consulting with the designer and reviewing candidate logos.
“Do-it-yourself” logo design sites are also available. These sites typically allow the user, to select an image from a set of available images provided by the site operator, enter text to appear in the logo, select among available fonts and colors, and then manually click-and-drag or otherwise manipulate the relative sizes and positions of the image and the text. When the user is satisfied with the assembled logo, the user can make payment arrangements and receive the logo in electronic format.
If a user who has acquired a logo from a designer or a logo design site later wants to incorporate the logo into a printed product being designed online on a product design site, the user must typically retrieve the logo from the user's computer storage system, upload the logo to the product design site, and incorporate and position the logo in the product being designed online. In some cases, the size or aspect ratio of the user's logo may not be well suited to the product being designed, resulting in a finished product that is not completely satisfactory.
There is, therefore, a need for an automated design tool that is integrated with an online product design system and allows the user to create a composite image containing user-supplied text and incorporate the custom logo into one or more products being designed on the site.